Try a New Recipe Thursdays - Hearty Soup for a Snowy Day

With the six(!) inches of snow we woke up to in Philly yesterday, I decided a hearty soup was definately on our dinner menu. So I bundled up for a very chilly and slippery walk home from work yesterday, stopped at the grocery on the way, and was able to create this delicious Chicken Tortilla Soup in only an hour! Bonus - it is colorful, visually pleasing (see pic at left) and so healthy.

Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed chicken broth
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup whole corn kernels, cooked
1 cup pinto beans (or other white beans)
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 boneless chicken breast halves, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces
crushed tortilla chips
sliced avocado
shredded Monterey Jack cheese
chopped green onions

Directions:
In a medium stock pot, heat oil over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic in oil until soft. Stir in chili powder, oregano, tomatoes, broth, and water. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in corn, chiles, beans, cilantro, and chicken. Simmer for 10 minutes. Ladle soup into individual serving bowls, and top with crushed tortilla chips, avocado slices, cheese, and chopped green onion.

Try a New Recipe Thursdays - White Sangria

It is probably obvious by now if you read this blog that some of my favorite hobbies are cooking and entertaining. I really love finding and making new recipes and experimenting in the kitchen. One of my house-mates in grad school used to make the most delicious white sangria for parties. I've been dying to try it again - it is the perfect way to forget about the blahs of winter so I just might make it this weekend. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 Bottle of white wine (Riesling, Albarino, Chablis, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc)
2/3 cup white sugar
3 oranges (sliced) or may substitute 1 cup of orange juice
1 lemon (sliced)
1 lime (sliced)
1/2 liter of ginger ale or club soda (ginger ale for those with a sweeter tooth!)

Preparation:
Pour wine in the pitcher and squeeze the juice wedges from the orange,lemon and lime into the wine. Toss in the fruit wedges (leaving out seeds if possible) and add sugar. Chill overnight. Add ginger ale or club soda just before serving. If you'd like to serve right away, use chilled white wine and serve over lots of ice. If you are feeling ambitious, trying adding apples, strawberries, peaches, handful of fresh blueberries, raspberries, kiwi, a shot or two of gin, brandy or rum, or a cup of citrus-flavored soda.

Try a New Recipe Thursdays - Birthday Edition

Happy Birthday to me today. Next time you're celebrating a birthday, try these Classic Vanilla Cupcakes. Yum.

1/2 cup unsalted butter softened

1/2 cup vegetable shortening softened

2 cups sugar

4 extra large eggs (l cup eggs)

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 drops lemon and almond extract (optional)

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup cornstarch

2 tablespoons baking powder

2 1/2 cups milk

Line two twelve-cup muffin pans with cupcake liners. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Blend butter with shortening until light and fluffy. Add in sugar and beat well. Add in eggs and extracts. Mix dry ingredients together and fold into batter, alternating with milk. Blend on slow speed to combine, scraping down bowl sides and bottom often. Blend until smooth, about 3 minutes. Fill cupcake liners two-thirds to almost full. Place in oven, immediately reducing heat to 350 degrees F. Bake until cupcakes test done (tops should gently spring back when touched), about 20-24 minutes depending on size of cupcakes. Approximately 24 medium cupcakes - 36 smaller cakes.

Try a New Recipe Thursdays - Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

After taking a holiday hiatus, Try a New Recipe Thursdays is back! I'd like to share one of my favorite easy dessert recipes - Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies. Most people only make this type of cookie at Christmas time, but for me they are a year-round staple and always go over well with friends. This recipe makes a lot of cookies and is very easy.

1 cup butter

2/3 cup creamy peanut butter (can substitute reduced fat)

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 t vanilla

2 2/3 cup flour

2 t baking soda

1 t salt

16 oz. package chocolate kiss candy

Combine butter, peanut butter and sugars; blend until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; blend. Mix flour, salt and soda, add to cream mixture; stir well. Roll dough into quarter size balls. Roll ball in bowl of sugar. Bake dough at 350 degrees for 8 minutes, take out, place chocolate kiss in center of each cookie. Bake an additional 2 minutes.

Try a New Recipe Thursdays - Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

So the holiday season is in full swing! I've been so busy transitioning from Thanksgiving to Christmas that my poor blog has been neglected the past couple of days. This week we've gotten a lot of Christmas stuff accomplished though... we purchased and decorated a tree, adorned the rest of the house with all things Christmas, made a very comprehensive shopping list (to be tackled online and this weekend) AND ordered some adorable Paper Cafe Christmas Cards! Since it is already Thursday and time for a new recipe, I thought I'd share something I'm looking forward to making this season for a dessert party we will be attending. These taste even more amazing than they look.

Whoopie Pies

1 cup + 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour

2 Tablespoons cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup well-shaken buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 Tablespoon red food coloring

Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk together flour, baking soda, cocoa and salt in a bowl. Stir together buttermilk and vanilla in a cup. Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes, then add egg, beating until combined well. Mix in flour mixture and buttermilk mixture alternately in batches at low speed (scraping down side of bowl occasionally), beginning and ending with flour mixture. Mix until smooth. Spoon about 1 Tablespoon of batter about 1 1/2 inches apart onto a buttered large baking sheet. Bake in middle of oven until tops are puffed and cookies spring back when touched, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer with a metal spatula to a rack and chill (to cool quickly), about 5 minutes. Make filling/frosting while cookies chill. Once they are completely cool, frost the flat side of a cookie with a generous amount of frosting and sandwich with another cookie.

Frosting:

(Hint - you will only need 1/2 recipe of the below)

3/4 cup butter, softened

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1/8 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-2 tablespoons milk

2-4 cups powdered sugar depending on desired consistency

Cream the butter and cream cheese together in an electric mixer. (Be sure that the two are at room temperature, but not melted. Cold cream cheese or butter can make your frosting lumpy.) Add the brown sugar and vanilla extract, and beat for about 2 minutes. Turn off mixer and add 2 cups of powdered sugar. Turn the mixer on a low speed so the sugar doesn’t fly out of the bowl. Slowly add more sugar alternately with the milk until you reach your desired consistency.

Try a New Recipe Thursdays - Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes

These potatoes would make a unique Thanksgiving side dish and would provide a nice savory complement to the sweetness of the traditional candied yam dish so many people make. Bonus points because it is easy to prepare and can be made ahead of time. Turkey day is only a week away, so get cooking!

3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup whole milk
1 onion, chopped
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter
4 ounces soft fresh goat cheese (such as Montrachet), crumbled

Cook potatoes in large pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, bring milk, onion and butter to boil in small saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove from heat. Drain potatoes and return to pot. Add hot milk mixture and mash. Add goat cheese and mash until blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Note: dish can be prepared 2 hours ahead of time.) Let stand at room temperature. Before serving, stir over low heat until heated through. Sprinkle with parsley or chives for added flair.

Yield: 6 servings

Try a New Recipe Thursdays - Banana Bread Pudding

This week's recipe is inspired by New Orleans and is just as incredible as it looks in the picture!Banana Bread Pudding with Banana Rum Sauce is a fantastic cross between the classic bread pudding and Bananas Foster, the great flaming bananas and ice cream dessert.

Pudding:

6 cups bite-sized pieces of day-old French bread
3 cups milk
3 large eggs
⅔ cup plus 1 tb sugar
2 large very ripe bananas
¾ tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ cup seedless raisins
½ cup roasted pecans

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

¾ cup heavy whipping cream

Preheat the oven to 300F. Put the French bread pieces into a 9x12x2 inch baking pan. In a blender or food processor, blend the eggs, milk, 2/3 cup of sugar, bananas, cinnamon, nutmeg and 1/2 teaspoon of the vanilla until smooth. Pour this mixture over the French bread pieces. Fold in the raisins and the pecans and let the mixture set for 20 minutes. Top with small pieces of the butter. Cover the pudding with aluminum foil and place the pan into a larger pan. Add warm water to a depth of 1 inch in the larger pan. Bake for 1 hour. Remove the foil and bake uncovered for 15 minutes until set. In a deep, medium bowl, whisk the cream just until it begins to thicken. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla. Continue whisking until soft peaks form. Cover and chill.

Sauce:

⅔ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
½ cup packed light brown sugar
6 large ripe bananas, quartered
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 tablespoons dark rum
2 tablespoons banana liqueur
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat a large saute pan or skillet over low heat. Add the butter, sugar, bananas, cinnamon and nutmeg. Moving the skillet back and forth, cook until the butter and sugar become creamy and the bananas begin to soften, about one minute. Remove the skillet from heat and add the rum and the liqueur. Return the pan to the heat. Tilt the pan, avert your face and and light the liquid with a long match. Shake the skillet until the flames subside. Add the vanilla, remove from heat and keep warm.

To serve, place a large scoop of bread pudding in the middle of each serving plate or bowl. Place 2 slices of banana on each plate and top with about 3 tablespoons of sauce. Spoon the whipped cream over the bread pudding and serve immediately.

Try a New Recipe Thursdays - Cranberry Chicken

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, I'm getting to be in the mood for some cranberry flavor. I'm thinking of making this dish tonight. You should try it too.

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts - you could also use any other type of chicken you prefer (thighs, bone-in breast, etc.)
1 can cranberry sauce
1 packet onion soup mix
1 small bottle of Russian dressing (ff you can’t find Russian dressing, use Catalina)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray. Wash and dry your chicken and set in the baking dish; salt and pepper to taste, In a small bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Pour cranberry mixture over chicken, covering generously. Bake covered with foil for approximately 45 minutes (cooking time will vary depending on the size and type of chicken you select).

Try a New Recipe Thursdays - Stuffed Peppers

Need a hearty meal to warm you up on cool fall evenings? Try making these yummy, healthy, stuffed peppers. I recieved this recipe during a kitchen/cooking shower that was thrown for me by friends of my mom almost two years ago now and it continues to be one of my favorite week night go-tos. It is also a great way to use leftover ground beef and/or rice.

1 lb. cooked ground beef (or ground turkey)

1 cup cooked brown rice (1/2 cup uncooked)

1/2 small onion, browned

1 packet taco seasoning

4-6 green peppers (depending on how large they are)

1 cup tomato sauce

shredded cheddar cheese

Wash and core peppers, removing seeds and membranes. Mix together cooked beef, rice and browned onion with taco mix (if you don't have leftover beef, you can brown the beef with the onion). Fill peppers and place in baking dish. Poor tomato sauce over the tops of the peppers. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle cheese over top. Bake for 5 more minutes or until the cheese melts. Enjoy - the picture at the top shows my last batch of yummy stuffed peppers!

Try a New Recipe Thursdays - Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Icing

I've decided to start a new feature to share some of my favorite recipes. Here is a yummy one for fall weekends that is so easy, and it was a big hit at a World Series gathering we attended last night.

Pumpkin Bars:
2 cups pumpkin
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cups canola oil
2 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1 t baking soda
2 cups flour

Cream Cheese Icing:
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
3/4 stick butter, softened
1 2/3 cup powdered sugar
2 T milk
(you can also cheat with a store-bought variety)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together pumpkin, sugar and oil. Sift flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda and add it to the pumpkin mixture. Bake in an ungreased medium-sized jelly roll pan for 25-30 minutes. A fork should come out clean when it is done.

Beat softened cream cheese and butter. Add powdered sugar and milk and beat until smooth and creamy. Allow bars to cool before frosting them. Add a piece of candy corn or a mini candy pumpkin for a garnish if you wish. Store bars in the fridge until you are ready to serve them.